1993 Nissan Pathfinder Electric door locks

vwalden · Feb 17th, 2005, 04:03 PM

When we are inside with the key in the ignition and we want to lock the doors for security, the door lock buttons go down when you hit the button and pop right back up in the unlock position. How do you secure your doors when you are inside? I just got this Nissan used and have never had one. Thanks

vwalden

Zilverado · Feb 17th, 2005, 05:23 PM

Make sure the doors are closed. Our '92 doesn't let you lock the doors with the keys in the ignition unless the doors are all closed when you hit the button. If you try and lock the doors while the doors are still open, the locks do exactly what you describe - lock and then immediately unlock.

This feature prevents you from accidentally getting out of the vehicle, and locking the doors while the keys are still hanging in the ignition. This feature has saved me the headache of "keys locked in car" a couple of times.

Just a thought...

vwalden · Feb 18th, 2005, 07:41 AM

The doors are closed when we do this and they still just pop back up.

Vwalden

X-Traction · Feb 20th, 2005, 08:06 PM

This is difficult to diagnose, so I can only offer suggestions for what little they're worth. Power door lock systems use "lock" and "unlock" signals. You could have a short that's sending an "unlock" signal. The power door lock module could have a faulty part like a relay.

You didn't say if the locks work normally when you leave the vehicle. If they do, this suggests something related to whatever is powered when the ignition is on. If they don't stay locked when the engine isn't running, then probably it's a problem with the locks themselves.

The locking system comprises these components:
The physical door latches, knobs and connecting rods.
The four power actuators. The front two are "master" actuators that can send lock/unlock signals. The rear doors have "slave" actuators that just do what they're told. (Pre-'92 only had one master actuator)
The armrest lock switches.
The control module.

If it's a problem with the locks, it's probably a front one, since the rear doors' locks don't have actuators wired to send "lock" and "unlock" signals. If you're comfortable with removing the inside door trim (and it took me a while to learn how to do it), you could unplug the front actuators, one at a time, and see if that makes the problem go away.

Our '91 had different symptoms, (passenger front door lock would not work as part of the power system, but did work manually), however the problem turned out to be a power door lock actuator that had a manufacturing defect.

It could be something interfering with the mechanism. If the door locks can't go "down" far enough because there's something in the way of a rod or clamp, the system then gets an "unlock" signal and unlocks.

So for now, the important questions are: Do the locks work normally when you turn off the ignition and leave the vehicle? If you have key fobs, could one of them be stuck sending an "unlock" signal? Do the knobs go up and down freely without signs of limited travel or binding? Do you have a sticking or defective lock switch?

**88pathoffroad** · Feb 21st, 2005, 01:22 AM

Very good points. The problem lies within either the master locking switch panel on the driver's side armrest or in the lock solenoid inside the driver's side door. Sometimes the plastic lock linkage attachment parts like to fall off or break, which might cause one of the linkages to somehow jam the wrong way and prevent proper operation.

CraigMc · Feb 27th, 2005, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwalden

When we are inside with the key in the ignition and we want to lock the doors for security, the door lock buttons go down when you hit the button and pop right back up in the unlock position. How do you secure your doors when you are inside? I just got this Nissan used and have never had one. Thanks

vwalden

My 93 also does the same. Is it possible to do so?

**88pathoffroad** · Feb 28th, 2005, 03:52 AM

To do so what?

Stuka · Mar 3rd, 2005, 12:36 PM

The locks on my '95 pathfinder have presented a slightly different problem. Sometimes the doors will lock themselves when you pull up on the handle. I don't know how to fix it.

It presented a big problem when my wife had the keys in the car, and she got locked out of it. The windows were up, the car was off, the keys were inside, it was a hot day in August, and one of the dogs was inside it. She couldn't get back in the house for the spare keys because she'd already locked the house. If somebody could tell me how to fix this I'd appreciate it. I had to replace a window she broke out to save the dog.

X-Traction · Mar 3rd, 2005, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuka

The locks on my '95 pathfinder have presented a slightly different problem. Sometimes the doors will lock themselves when you pull up on the handle. I don't know how to fix it.

It presented a big problem when my wife had the keys in the car, and she got locked out of it. The windows were up, the car was off, the keys were inside, it was a hot day in August, and one of the dogs was inside it. She couldn't get back in the house for the spare keys because she'd already locked the house. If somebody could tell me how to fix this I'd appreciate it. I had to replace a window she broke out to save the dog.

I hope she had the presence of mind to break the little window in a rear door to minimize the cost. And I hope the dog was grateful.

So to clarify, when all the doors are closed, and not locked, and you pull up on an outside (assuming a front door) door handle, all the doors lock. Something is sending a bogus "lock" signal. The problem is to sort out why this is happening.

The external handle is separate from the power lock system. Obviously the doors don't lock or unlock by using the external handle. The external handle connects mechanically to the lock mechanism, while the power actuator operates a rod connected to the inside lock knob, which has another rod to the lock mechanism. Or something equivalent to that.

Here's some things to try, with spare keys in hand:-):

Try pulling up on the other front door handle and see what happens. Does this happen when you open a rear door? This can isolate the problem to one door.

Does the system work ok otherwise? Does it make a difference if the engine is running?

If it's not isolated to one door, I'd suspect the power door module, but this really doesn't make sense unless you have a short that's triggered by movement.

If it is isolated to one front door, it's possible the lock's connecting rods are being moved by the handle mechanism. This might be the result of a loose clamp, or someone messing up the system by trying to jimmy the door. Have you had speakers or sound insulation installed?

So when you operate the outside handle, something pushes down on the rods etc. inside the door, and beyond a certain point of being moved, the actuator sends a "lock" signal to the rest of the system. This is the only way I can see this happening, since the outside handle has no electrical connections that I know of.